The Star: April 13, 2017

The Star 35
Theatre/Arts
Latest Christchurch news at www.
.kiwi
Thursday April 13 2017
Creating a market for older shows
• By Georgia O’Connor-Harding
BEN McDONALD wasn’t at the
National Academy of Singing
and Dramatic Art
long before he realised a life
behind the scenes was calling
for him.
At 16 he produced his own
variety concert as part of a high
school project which sold out
the St James Theatre two nights
in a row in Gore.
With this in
mind, it wasn’t
long after
McDonald (left)
graduated that
he set up his
own company
Ben McDonald
Ltd.
Now after producing more
than 50 productions McDonald,
36, will present three major
shows at the Isaac Theatre Royal
this year.
A Broadway-themed variety
concert, a popular musical and
a comedy about four Kiwis
embarking on a trip to Italy are
all on the cards for McDonald
this year.
Broadway to the West End,
The Sound of Music and Four
Flat Whites in Italy are all to
BIG SHOWS: Grease is one of many shows Ben McDonald
has presented in the city and around the country.
be staged and produced by the
Rangiora resident this year.
Having a passion for creating
opportunities for performers
McDonald said the city is one
of the strongest in the country
for New Zealand theatre particularly
since the February 22,
2011, earthquake.
Even at a time when there was
little performing arts in the city
post-earthquake, McDonald
saw an opportunity to set up a
make-shift theatre in Hagley
Park.
The Canterbury Celebration
Theatre was set up for singers,
dancers and musicians to
perform to audiences of 200
people twice a day and ran for
about a month shortly after the
earthquake.
The marquee theatre was so
successful McDonald decided
to run another season at Hagley
Park and Riccarton Bush.
“It was a wonderful thing
to be part of . . . there were no
other venues at all. It was just
something to do,” he said.
In spite of many theatre companies
in the city often undertaking
financially viable shows,
McDonald believes there is a
market for “older” shows such as
The Sound of Music in the city.
“That is something we do that
the likes of the operatic and
consortium shows won’t touch
because they want to do the big
modern shows,” he said.
In spite of not taking on a
stage career, McDonald enjoyed
his time at NASDA and said he
now often employs a lot of the
graduates from the school.
“I couldn’t have done a better
thing. It didn’t teach me what
I am doing now but I couldn’t
have done anything else. I am
very fond of NASDA,” he said.
•To find out more about
McDonald’s three shows at
the Isaac Theatre Royal go
to http://isaactheatreroyal.
co.nz/
City composer
for prestigious
workshop
• By Georgia O’Connor-Harding
ONE OF the city’s most
promising composers will travel
to New York to study the art of
orchestral music for film.
Matt Everingham, 22, has
been accepted into New York
University/ASCAP’s film scoring
summer workshop.
He has been selected to
study with musicians from all
around the world and learn
from well-known composers
including Mark Snow next
month.
At the end of the workshop
musicians on the course will
arrange a piece of music to be
recorded with the New York
University orchestra.
“I have always been interested
in how music tells stories . . .
how music can narrate storylines
and emphasise things you
wouldn’t normally thing,” he
said.
He has made a mark in the
city’s musical theatre industry at
a relatively young age, playing the
piano, directing and composing
for companies including The
Court Theatre and Showbiz
Christchurch.
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